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It depends on your preferences. If you can make friends you can make them anywhere.
I agree, Gaffer. I've bounced around a bit in my life & never had a problem making friends.
I do think it matters where you live & has an effect on the quality of your life. Someone who never got the chance to live where they wanted, but rather had to live in a certain locale due to any number of reasons (family, job, finances), could definitely still love life & be happy. But for me, how can one know what they want when they haven't had a chance to peruse the menu?
I grew up in Colorado & liked it a lot. I like CO a whole lot more now that I live in NY. Going home to visit always causes me to look at CO like a bit of a tourist & I see beauty in it that I didn't spot when I was younger. But when I was young, I always loved flipping to the October page of a calendar. October always featured a photo of some gorgeous New England town, with a crazy quilt of autumn colors spread over gentle rolling hills & valleys; covered bridges & white steeple churches. It looked like home to me & I dreamed of living that scene one day.
When I finally did see it & settled in the Hudson Valley of NY, I thought that was pretty much "New England" enough for me. Moved from Dutchess County to Albany County - only 90 minutes apart - & there is a noticeable difference in climate & growing zones.
Funny thing, flip to the December or January page of those calendars...they never show anyone freezing their cajones off while they try to chisel off a one inch thick coat of ice from the walk. While the wind tears through 4 layers of coats & your eyelashes freeze together!
This past April I saw Tennesee for the first time. And the Blue Ridge Mtns. of Viginia...the skyline drive....all of it. Still has 4 seasons & the rolling colorful beauty of the Hudson Valley & New England; but winters there are cake compared to NY (and IMO, all of the northeast,) winters. Eureka! Finally found the place (I knew in my bones since I was five), that was right for me. I hope to get to TN within the next 3 years; but if I don't, I know I have it in me to make the best life I know - here in NY, or wherever I end up.
I think that a happy content person can probably make due just about anywhere, but people do have preferences that feel more like home. I generally prefer urban areas, but I decided to test this preference and moved away to a smaller town for college. I had a good experience, made some life-long friends, and grew to love the town, but when I moved back to chicago, that first summer day when I was walking through the city, heard the 'el' overhead, and went up against a crowd crossing the street, rounding the corner, and saw Grant Park I sighed and thought to myself 'ah, I'm home', it just felt like an old comfortable shoe.
But I'm sure if I found myself relocating for reasons that I was comfortable or excited about, I would make the best of it, and probably be quite happy.
Depends on what is A and what is B. "A" could be Barrow, AK and the other could be in New York City, The two towns are completely diffrent from eachother and it depends on the person when it comes to the way of life in each. A business man that makes 100K a year would probably do great in NYC, but not really in Barrow. And a fishermen makin 16K a year that is not used to a lot of people hustlin and bustlin wouldnt do so great in NYC.
So yes. It does matter, but most the towns that you really get to know is the ones you grew up in.
I know people have said something like if you are unhappy in state b, you must have been unhappy in state a too. You are just an unhappy person. That isn't true.
I can tell you that I was happy where I used to be for over half a century, even when there was no money to pay the mortgage, bills were in arears, were getting our meals from a food pantry, etc., than were I am now owning both a condo and house and making over $100,000. Family, familiar surroundings, weather, culture, etc., sustained me even in adversity. I am now in a place where I lived for 6 months 30 years ago and never wanted to return.
There is no one answer to this. It all depends on an individual and their circumstances.
Does matter. I grew up in a small town, lived in several larger cities and am now back in a small town. I just am not as happy here as I am in the larger cities. I live a very simple life but it wasn't until I moved here that I realized how much the amenities of a city mattered to me.
I would hate to live in a city. I love the wide open spaces, nature, and the privacy of living rural. I would be miserable in a concrete jungle. There's just too much stress and crowds in cities.
Then I hope for your sake that you meet someone who loves the same type of environment. I grew up in a small town in PA and had to move around Los Angeles when I got married, as that was where my husband lived most of his life and where he wanted to return. I've adjusted out here and can definitely see positive points, but doubt I would ever pick where I live above everyplace else if I was free to do so. Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice for the sake of a relationship. I also didn't have real strong opinions when I was younger, but having experienced both types of places, I definitely prefer smaller cities and towns.
I think it's also what you encounter personally that makes you happy. I didn't have a really happy family life in PA and I never met anyone who compared to my husband back there.
I agree. I live in Virginia now and I'm not used to the slow pace of life out here. Everything closes at 9 PM. Also I hate the fact that I have to drive everywhere even the corner store.
My wife on the other hand moved to where we at live now from a small town in northwest VA and she thinks where we live is too crowded. She refuses to walk anywhere. It's so bad she lives literally across the street from her job and she still drive to work everyday.
I know one thing though, once I get my degree I'm heading back North. The wife is either with me or not.
I know people have said something like if you are unhappy in state b, you must have been unhappy in state a too. You are just an unhappy person. That isn't true.
I can tell you that I was happy where I used to be for over half a century, even when there was no money to pay the mortgage, bills were in arears, were getting our meals from a food pantry, etc., than were I am now owning both a condo and house and making over $100,000. Family, familiar surroundings, weather, culture, etc., sustained me even in adversity. I am now in a place where I lived for 6 months 30 years ago and never wanted to return.
There is no one answer to this. It all depends on an individual and their circumstances.
Did you used to have the user name hockey mom or something like that? You sound a lot like her.
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